When it comes to tailing material, its all dependent on what you will be tying as your tailing material will be totally different. Some patterns call for a soft hackle like seen here, others use stiff barbules from a dry fly feather and others may call for microfibetts.

In this post we will

Here I will demonstrate how to measure and tie in tailing material from a hen neck or a soft hackle skin. This tailing material is used in my Isonychia Soft Hackle pattern found here.

If you are following from our PHWFF New City Group, this was one of the patterns we tied on July 27th, 2016 and a step by step can be found there.

A Hebert Miner Wet Fly Saddle in While Type Brown

When I am tying in soft hackle material for tailing I like to choose a feather that looks a little beat up. (In other words I may not use it for wrapping as a collar since its all beat up, but it will be perfect for a tail) Sometimes I will even select one from the back side of the cape since the fibers are longer.

Take the feather in which you will be using for tailing and hold it by the tip and brush those fibers down with your fingers towards the stem. It should look something like the photo above.

Now grab a pinch from one side and pull it free from the stem.

“How long should my tailing be?”

Different patterns call for different length tailing, but rule of thumb when you aren’t sure; is to hold your tailing over the hook shank and measure it somewhere around 3/4 to one hook shank in length.

Measuring the tail

You can do this by holding your tailing over the hook shank. Position your fingers so that they are over the hook eye to get a grip on it so that you can eye ball the measurement. Once you have it measured, switch hands so that you are grasping it with your “non tying” hand and move the tailing over the bank of the shank. You will want to tie it in where your bobbin is hanging so position the tie in point there.

One or two wraps are all you need to hold it in place so you can make sure it’s positioned correctly. (Don’t worry if the material accidentally wraps around the hook, that just means your pinch wrap wasn’t secure enough. Either re-position it or remove the tailing and try again) Its not a big deal as it happens to all of us!

Once its positioned correctly, wrap forward towards the hook eye to cover the waste ends.

Ready for the next step

Depending on where you are next in your pattern stop the thread at the designated area and continue with your next step.

I Hope this has helped answer your questions, and as always; please contact me with anythings else you’d like me to elaborate on.

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I don’t know where this recipe originally came from it was given to me by a friend but it is a really great cornbread recipe. Especially if you’re making tacos,quesadillas or even just some pork ribs. It doesn’t dry out like some cornbread recipes do and The green chiles give it a smokier flavor than the original jalapeños.

Ingredients:

-3 eggs

– 3 tablespoons vegetable oil

-1 can of creamed corn

-1small can of mild diced green chiles

-1/2 cup of sour cream

-1 cup shredded pepper Jack cheese

-1/2 cup of frozen corn (this will add more texture to the cornbread)

-2 boxes jiffy cornbread mix

1. Combine all ingredients (except for the cornbread Jiffy mix) in a large bowl

2.Once those ingredients are mixed add two packages of Jiffy Corn Muffin Mix. Remember this is in a cake it’s cornbread so don’t over-mix the batter or it won’t taste right. Just combine it enough that its mixed together and looks like the photo below.

Transfer the batter to a 13″ x 9″ baking dish, and coat the dish with cooking spray first.

Bake at 375 for about 40 minutes (some ovens need longer) and bake it until a knife comes out clean in the center. The knife doesn’t need to be bone dry but should be pretty clean. Let cool and cut into squares.

Enjoy!

A great side dish to go with many meals.

*Disclaimer*

I am by no means a master chef, and by using this recipe you agree that I will not be held responsible for your lack of cooking skills, cooking with expired food, broken cooking thermometers, pets running around and unplugging slow cookers, electrical fires due to shoddy wiring in your home, power outages from the wrath of mother nature or any other issues that arise on your end from an attempt at recreating any recipes from this blog.

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If you are new to fly tying you will soon be finding out just how much “stuff” you can acquire. Over the years you may find yourself with bins of material that you hardy use, along with doubles and triples of other things because you forgot that so-called list when you went to the fly shop. Ah yes – that never ending and never around ‘list’.

If you are starting out bare bones, I would highly recommend running out and grabbing a fly tying kit. They are readily available in fly shops, online and in some outdoor supply stores. A fly tying kit will give you the majority of the tools needed and a good variety of starting materials (plus some of them also include an instruction book and DVD with patterns full of step-by-step tutorials) The only downside to a kit is that you will more than likely have a stationary vise and that may make tying some patterns difficult as you will have to remove the hook, turn it over and reinsert it into your vise. It’s not terrible, as its how many of us began; but an upgrade to a rotating vise will do wonders for your tying.

Tying Vise:

Your vise is one of the most important tools you will need, so try to find a sturdy one that will hold your hooks securely.

The Regal vise is cam operated and always under pressure, so your hooks remain securely in the jaws of your tying vise.

Depending on your vise there will be different ways in which you will close the jaws around the hook. Some of them are lever action (especially if you’re picking up a kit); and others such as the Regal Vise that I tie on are Cam operated and are always under pressure, which in turn means that hooks remain securely held. Take a look at “Fly Tying 101: Securing the hook in your vise” for a step by step tutorial on how to work some of the vises.

Some will have have a table clamp and some will come with a base but when you are beginning you will need to experiment until you find out what works for you

Scissors:

After you’ve been tying for a while and say to yourself.. “Ive found my new obsession!” you may want to upgrade from your kit and pick up a set of good set of scissors.

A set of scissors from Dr. Slick

Dr. slick make very nice set of sharp scissors that come in a box set; but keep in mind before you throw out any old ones you will also want a pair of scissors that are not so nice. You will want to keep them when cutting materials that otherwise would dull them. For example: Having to cut chenille, wire, metal tinsel ect.

If you only have one pair, you can always use the way back area of your good scissors (many even have an indent that is good for that purpose) I tend to just use an old pair or pick up a few junky pairs from the $1.00 store. If your old pair looks exactly your new ones and it’s hard to tell them apart, I would recommend putting some marker or drop of color nail polish somewhere on them to tell them apart.

Whip finisher:

Ah yes.. the whip finisher. During more than one tying session Ive been told it “Looks like something out of a medieval torture chamber” and that its completely aggravating to use.

Well.. I cant argue that they look a little torturous!

Well..it does sort of look evil ..but I can assure you that once you get the hang of it, it actually becomes a lot of fun when finishing your flies! Not to mention it will become an extension of your arm to the point that it will become automatic and you’ll be finishing flies in no time.

Hair Stacker:

The hair stacker will become an invaluable tool down the line, especially when tying flies such as the elk hair caddis.

Great for leveling tips of elk hair.

Its used to level the tips of deer and elk hair before tying in.

Hackle Pliers:

Hackle pliers come in different shapes and sizes. As you continue to tie you may find that some pliers work better for certain techniques than they do for others. The way that hackle pliers work, are when you squeeze them they will open. You can then insert your material into the ‘jaws’. When you let go, they will close down around that material. This will allow you to wrap your material around the hook shank without having to put pressure on the pliers themselves. I prefer the one on the right, for me they have better control.

Hackle pliers

These will be used to grab your feather and wrap it around the hook they are also useful for wrapping Polish quills.

Bobbins:

Bobbins are used to hold your thread. Different bobbins can be used to hold different materials so you want to find one that you are comfortable using because many standard Bobbins come in different sizes and shapes.

A standard bobbin, a Wasatch bobbin for silk and a Rite Bobbin

On the left we see a standard bobbin, the middle is a Wasatch bobbin for silk, and on the right we see a Rite Bobbin. While the standard and Rite bobbin are both used for thread, I tend to use the Rite Bobbin for bigger thread such as a 3/0 or GSP because taught pulling on the bobbin when spinning deer hair wont cause it to pop loose from the bobbin like it does in the standard. I always keep one bobbin loaded with lead/leadfree wire.

These will come in handy when teasing out material or roughing up the dubbing on flies such as the hares ear or caddis jig.

Dubbing spinner:

These help you spin the thread when creating a dubbing loop.

Dubbing spinners make spinning those dubbing loops easy!

Head Cement:

Some tyers use it, others dont. Its all personal preference.

The left I like for bigger flies and the one on the right i use for smaller ones since it has a built in pin nail in the bottle foe easy application.

Head cement is used to finish the heads on flies or to be dabbed on a thread base on a hook to help materials from slipping when being tied in.

Wax:

There are different types of wax.

Experiment with waxes and see which works for you best.

Here on the left we see a standard tube of wax that you’d find in a kit, in the middle is a homemade hard wax that I picked up from my friend Eunan at a show, and on the right we see the ever elusive Wonder Wax! Each can be used for dubbing, but over time you will come to find whats right for you; as some work better on different materials.

Lighting:

Another important thing you will need is good lighting. It will help to relieve eyestrain and you will be able to see better. It took me quite a while to find the right lamp, especially one I can use for travel but the way I finally found one, was attending the fly tying shows. Not from a salesman, but by watching people tie and taking a look at their setup. When I saw one that allowed me to see what they were tying clearly, I began to ask questions and eventually settled on buying the one that was right for me.

An optional – but essential tool is a bead holding pair of pliers.

an excellent bead holder

This is by no means a complete list but it will get you off on the right foot!

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Partridge is one of those fly tying staples that you will learn to never want to be without, but it can also be hard to handle as a beginner tyer. Take a look at the new tutorial at the link here: How to Wrap a Soft Hackle! Its full of tips and tricks on how to master this awesome material.

Close up of my favorite material

Using your fingers, brush the waste ends vertical..

Grab the feather base in one hand.

Before you wrap it forward (and by forward remember I mean away from you) you’ll want to hold those fibers in your fingers

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